Fitness fanatic Peggy Williams, 47, dropped from the sky and onto a rocky outcrop after a freak gust of wind caught the fabric wing of her paraglider.

She was catapulted through the air like a 'rag doll' before plummeting 20ft face down onto her stomach.

The rocks tore her liver and nearly severed her pancreas following the accident in Andulasia, Spain.

But her life was saved by a daily diet of sit ups and her 'abs of steel', which acted like a 'girdle' to protect her other vital organs.

Peggy was airlifted to hospital in Malaga, 43 miles away, where she remained in intensive care for more than eight days.

She spent a further two-and-a-half weeks in hospital following the terrifying ordeal on April 20.

Peggy, an experienced paragliding pilot, returned to her home in Clapton, Somerset, this morning.

She said: 'I was on the second day of an organised paragliding holiday and was out with two friends and eight or 10 other people on a hill at Teba in Andalusia.

'The take-off spot was gravelled, but it was surrounded by a very rocky area.

'I was just standing, watching for the right conditions to take off, when a big thermal came and lifted me up four or five metres, pulled me backwards, dropped me down and, because my wing was still inflated, dragged me back over the rocks face-down.

'I kept seeing rocks going past me and smacking me.

'Because the wing was partially inflated, it was my body rather than my head that was in contact with the rocks.

'I was dragged for what seemed like an eternity over the rocks, tearing my stomach in the process.'

Peggy, a freelance bookkeeper, added: 'I was only told later that it was my washboard stomach that saved my life.'

The saga took place during a planned paragliding holiday in Teba, where Peggy and eight friends planned to spend seven days.

Peggy has been flying for more than two years, and passed her Club Pilot exam in October 2007. On the day of the accident, she said the conditions were perfect, but that the thermal currents were strong.

She took off as normal, but a freak thermal hit her wing and sent her flying helplessly up and backwards. When the wind finally dropped, Peggy fell from the sky and back onto the rock escarpment from where she took off.

She landed face down, before being dragged across the boulders on her stomach and head.

Injured: Peggy recovering in hospital in Spain shortly after her accident which she survived thanks to her rock hard stomach

Peggy's tummy was 'ripped to shreds' but her washboard stomach muscles prevented her intestines and other major organs being severed.

Her pals rang emergency services and a helicopter was scrambled to rush her to nearby Malaga hospital.

Peggy, who has no children, said: 'More than one doctor has said that being so fit is what saved my life.

'I do 15 sit-ups and 30 bicycle sit-ups, or lateral crunches, every day - it's just a one-minute regime.

'I also run two or three times a week, and together that keeps me fit. The muscles acted like a girdle to protect me.'